The Fairy Nutty Tail
by EbiShrimpy
Summary: Lucy, a psychology student at the university, gets a internship at the local asylum in order to broaden her studies. While there, she encounters a peculiar group of people that will forever change her life.
1. Internship

Chapter 1

Lucy

Music blared through the speaker system of my car as I pulled into the parking lot of Mognolia's only hospital for the mentally ill. Not many people would enter or even go near the old building unless they had a family member as a patient there. I parked the car and shut off the radio before grabbing my things and exiting the car. Slamming the door shut, I gazed upon the dilapidated hospital. A long time ago, the building used to be some old rich guy's mansion. Now it stands as a sanatorium. I glanced up at the fading sign with cracked letters. Resolutely it read "Fairy Tail Hospital" in large, bold letters.

I moseyed to the entrance and optimistically entered through the thick oak doors. One wouldn't think to be happy about going to a sanatorium, but considering I'm a psych major at the University, it's as if I'm practically stepping into my career. Today was my first day to actually work alongside the patients. The University eased me into the job, but now I can finally dive into the important issues. Wandering up to reception, I spotted my good friend Mira typing away at the computer. She glanced up at me and smiled gleefully.

"Welcome back, Lucy!" Mira chimed pausing her work and turned towards me.

"Hey Mira! How's it going?" I asked, leaning against the counter.

"Oh, the usual," she replied with a small shrug. "Oh! You're going to be shadowing someone today, right?" She suddenly added in thought.

"That's right! Do you know who it is?" I inquired while tilting my head.

"Let me check." Mira returned to the computer screen and typed away. No more than a minute later, she faced me with a beaming smile. "It seems you'll be working alongside Dr. McGarden. She's a great doctor. She specializes in group therapy, so you'll be helping her in a large session today."

"That's great!" I clapped my hands together. "Do you know when she's available?"

"Not at the moment. All I know is that she's finishing up with one of her smaller groups. She'll come and find you when she's done. You'll only be helping her with the larger group on the days you're here." Mira smiled. I nodded and decided to wait in the lobby until the doctor was ready. I kicked my feet back and forth while staring up at the clock. An hour pasted and a woman with short blue hair pulled back by a yellow headband, in casual doctor attire, and carrying a bright red clipboard, exited from entrance to the ward, and headed my way.

"You must be Lucy. It's a pleasure to finally meet you! I'm Dr. McGarden, but feel free to call me Levy." She smiled, extending her hand with a friendly wink.

"It's wonderful to meet you!" I stood and shook her hand. "I can't wait to work alongside you."

"Likewise." She glanced down at a clipboard. "I'm just about to start my next session. You'll be joining me, correct?"

"That's right." I replied, wondering what type of patients she counseled.

Levy grinned and winked while gesturing towards the door. "Why don't we go get started, then?"

I nodded gleefully and followed the doctor as she walked through the large metal doors.

"Now, you've been through the first floor of the hospital, correct?" Levy asked glancing back at me. I nodded in response.

"Good, then you know that it's mostly filled with some of the doctors' offices." She replied gesturing to some of the doors. "The second floor, which is where we'll be going, contains more offices for doctors and nurses. It also has the recreational center for the patients, among other things such as the cafeteria, the pharmacy, yada yada." Levy walked to the elevator and pressed the "up" button before continuing, "The third floor contains the patients' rooms, along with half of the fourth floor."

"What's on the other half?" I inquired as we stepped into the elevator. Levy pressed the second floor button.

"Examination and therapy rooms. There are some of those on the fifth floor as well, but that floor is mainly reserved for the owner." The elevator dinged as we arrived on the second floor, where Levy directed me toward the group therapy room.

"Right over here is where we'll normally be working," she continued. "The patients know it well, and most of them aren't very fond of change." She shrugged, hugging her clipboard, as if remembering a past event. "I tried moving the room once, and a few of them had little fits, so we keep it in the same room now." Snapping out of it, Levy wandered over to the door and opened it. I followed her inside and glanced around curiously. The room was small and there were eight chairs set up in a circle. Levy sat down and gestured to the seat next to hers.

"How many patients will be coming?" I questioned while sitting down.

"Normally, we have about six or seven, but a couple of them moved to private sessions or now undergo different types of therapy due to various reasons. The usual's will still be coming. There are four of them." Levy clarified.

"I thought this was one of the larger groups?" I inquired, slightly disappointed. Can four people really be considered a large group?

"As I said, it used to be larger. But believe me, with these four, it's enough. Anymore in this group and I might go insane myself." She shook her head and glanced down at her clipboard. She explained that I would strictly observe for my first few sessions until I gained enough experience to help out in the counseling aspect.

A few minutes passed before the patients started filling into the room. The first of them was a pink-haired, scarf-wearing lad. I guessed he wasn't much taller than myself. He wore a black and red sweater along with jeans, and carried a blue cat plushy with wings. He clung to the stuffed toy as his lifeline, remaining crushed against his chest. With a ridiculous grin in my direction, he plopped himself in the chair next to mine. His wide, wondering eyes drilled my face. I tried my best to ignore his odd behavior.

Three other people flowed into the room immediately after him. The first was a man wearing mostly black that matched his jet black hair. As soon as he sat down—I'm not exactly sure how it happened—his shirt was removed from his bare chest and lying on the floor. The person next to him, a woman, snatched it up and cradled it close to her face. She had short blue hair, and wore light blue and white clothing. What struck me the most about her appearance was the crazed look in her eyes.

The odd trio sat as follows from left to right: pink boy, shirtless man, and crazed lady. The final person that appeared was a man with blue hair and a strange looking—what could it be called?—tattoo plastered over one of his eyes. He wore dark-colored clothing and sat awkwardly across the way from the trio.

"Are you new here?" the pink one asked in wonder while looking straight into my soul with a perky smile.

"Obviously," the dark-haired man replied with a roll of his eyes. "Anyone can see she's not one of us." He glanced my way and the others followed suit.

"No need to stare," Levy politely chimed while placing her papers down. She smiled as she continued with a gesture to me, "This is Lucy, and she's going to be helping me with our sessions for the next few weeks. So how about we all introduce ourselves?" she added with a wink. The pink-haired boy spoke up first.

"I'm Natsu! And this is my buddy, Happy! Because, you know, he makes me happy." Natsu proudly held the stuffed-animal up high to show it off.

"Put that thing down!" the shirtless man barked. "I'm Gray." As an added thought he muttered, "I don't see why we need to do this. It's not like she's going to be here long." The shirtless man sighed, glaring at Natsu.

"I'm Juvia." The woman smiled sweetly, but her expression quickly morphed into a scowl. "Don't come near my precious Gray unless you don't wish to see the light of day." She growled, clutching the shirt tightly, and keeping her longing gaze fixed on the bare-chested man.

I glanced to the odd-man-out on the other side of the circle.

"Jellal," he replied quietly without further elaboration. I stared at him for a second longer wondering why he was so silent. Maybe it's just part of his personality? Levy nodded, satisfied, and tapped on her clipboard.

"Good! Now, let's get started!" She paused to look over her notes. "Alright, everyone! Today, we're going to talk about things that we're afraid of and come up with ways we can defeat those fears." Levy quickly read over her clipboard. "Would anyone like to start? What are some things that you are afraid of?" she asked, glancing up with a questioning eyebrow. Natsu raised his hand high. Levy nodded towards him, a silent way of telling him he could speak.

"I'm not afraid of_ anything_," he stated proudly as he shifted in his seat.

"You're afraid of _everything_," Gray huffed. "There's a _whole list_ of things that you're afraid of: the dark, anyone that picks on you, independent women. I could go on."

"Those aren't _things_, idiot! She said _things_!" Natsu glared at the shirtless man. "Those are _people_."

"The dark isn't a person, stupid!" Gray retaliated, now sitting in his boxers. I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but now he was almost completely naked. I cringed and turned my gaze to another side of the group. I noticed Juvia cradling Gray's pants along with the shirt.

"Well, duh!" Natsu rolled his eyes. "It's an element. There's four of them you know. Four!" He held five fingers in Gray's face to emphasize his point.

"Dark isn't an element," he grumbled, pushing Natsu's incorrect number of fingers away.

"It is, too! There's fire, dark, light, lightening, stars, and…" Natsu glanced around as if he was sharing a secret piece of information, "gray." He whispered the word, but it was clearly loud enough for everyone to hear.

_"I'm_ an element?" Gray questioned incredulously as he turned to the boy.

"No! Not you! You're a _disgrace_ to the gods of gray," Natsu retorted, rolling his eyes.

Gray face-palmed, probably wishing he'd chosen somewhere else to sit. "Just so you know, that's not the four elements. It's fire, air, water, and earth."

"Air, water, and earth are parts that make up the rainbow, idiot! You can taste the rainbow, you know." Natsu stated seriously, turning to me. He cupped his mouth and continued in a whisper, "They told me so. And," He turned back to Gray, speaking loudly again. "Where are your clothes?"

"Alright, Natsu, that's enough. Good job! Now why don't we let someone else share their thoughts?" Levy suggested while writing on the clipboard. Juvia raised her hand slowly and waited for Levy to let her speak.

"It may astonish you all, but I have something that I'm afraid of," she stated, still clinging to Gray's clothing.

"What is it?! We're all eager to hear about it," Levy goaded sweetly while making eye contact with the crazed woman.

"I'm afraid that someone will take my darling Gray away from me and that I'll never be able to see him again!" Juvia dramatically sobbed as she smothered her tears with Gray's clothing.

"Ah, yes," Levy muttered quietly. I guessed she heard Juvia mention this before…perhaps many times by the look on her face. The doctor shook her head and turned towards Gray.

"What about you, Gray? Or how about you, Jellal? Is there anything you want to say about your fears?" she tentatively questioned, gazing back and forth at the two. Jellal remained as silent as the dead. Natsu turned to Gray with a quirky smirk.

"We all know what you're afraid of, Gray," Natsu chuckled slowly and quietly. He turned to me and whispered, "He's insane!"

"My darling Gray isn't afraid of anything!" Juvia cried, grabbing onto the man's bare, muscular arm. Gray sighed and shook her off in disgust.

"Oh? Haven't you heard? He thinks clothes eat people!" Natsu laughed, "And he thinks I'm crazy!" His maniacal laugher continued longer than necessary.

"Don't say it out loud! If they hear you, they might realize it and start eating us!" Gray exclaimed with bulged, fearful eyes, suddenly poised on the edge of his seat.

"Yeah, right," Natsu rolled his eyes with a flick of his wrist. He looked back toward me with a goofy grin on his face.

Gray suddenly gasped. "Look! That…that cloth! It's closing in on your neck! How hasn't anyone noticed yet?!" Sweat began to bead all over his body as gasps emerged from his heaving, bare chest. "It's closing in, I can see it from over here! I bet it's devouring your neck as we speak! Take it off, take it off, TAKE IT OFF!"

Natsu raised an eyebrow as Gray violently bolted to his feet and grabbed the edge of Natsu's scarf, tugging it harshly. He tried to yank it off the confused boy to supposedly save his life or something, but Gray only accomplished plopping the boy out of his seat, tightening the scarf around Natus's neck, and causing him to choke. Obnoxious gagging sounds emerged from his clenched throat. Natsu tried to put his hands in-between the scarf and his neck, frantically trying to get some air, but Gray kept pulling harder, desperate to set him free from the deadly clutches of the scarf. I gasped, unsure what to do, as Levy dropped the clipboard and ran to set Natsu free.

"Let go of him, Gray!" Levy ordered trying to wrench the shirtless man's hands off the piece of cloth, but to no avail. I glanced over to the others, Juvia sat on the sidelines watching Gray with wonder and Jellal shook his head with shame. Obviously, neither of them would try and help. This must happen often.

Before I had a chance to dive into action, the door burst open. A woman with scarlet red hair, dressed in a nurse's uniform, barged into the room. Her hair hung over her eyes like a raging darkness, causing chills to run down my spine.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she yelled, stepping into the middle of our circle of chairs. Gray instantly dropped the scarf in shocked bewilderment and returned to his seat. Natsu shared one look with at the scarlet haired woman and instantly crawled behind my chair to hide.

"Oh! Doctor Erza, what a wonderful surprise," Levy commented with a concerned smile as she stepped back.

"This is my therapy session! Why are you here?!" she accused, glaring daggers at the young woman. "Weren't you fired?!"

"Whatever do you mean?" Levy asked gently, "You assigned these patients to me, and no, that was Lyon, but then you rehired him."

"Did I?" A quizzical expression overpowered her face. The doctor or nurse—I wasn't sure anymore—raised her head revealing stern eyes. "I don't recall ever doing that. I might have to fire him again. Well in any case as long as I'm here, why don't I run this session?" Doctor Erza seated herself in Levy's place, picked up the clipboard, and began reading it over.

"Lucy, this is head doctor Erza. She runs everything here. Doctor Scarlet, this is Lucy, the new intern." Levy announced taking the seat next to the scarlet woman.

"Really?" Erza glanced to me, "It's good to hear that someone is willing to work in this nut house, I mean field. Welcome." She nodded her head before turning her gaze back to the clipboard in her hands. I nodded, too nervous to respond. After all, that was quite an entrance.

"Natsu, why don't you join us up here?" Erza commanded more than suggested. The boy cautiously and quietly climbed back into his seat, eyes glued to the floor.

"Alright. I see that we're talking about fears today. Honestly, I find that a pointless subject since you're all here because of something you're afraid of and you can't get over it. Pathetic. So why don't we skip all of that and get right down to business—the medication route."

A crazed look overtook her demeanor as she pulled out a massive syringe. She violently pushed on the plunger as some liquid sprayed out the tip. In fright, Juvia unexpectedly jumped into Gray's arms, who lost his balance and fell over in his chair. Now both on the ground, he mumbled something for her to get off of him. Moving ever so slowly, she blushed as giant hearts consumed her eyes. Next to them Natsu whimpered, clutching his cat plush tightly as he cautiously glanced over at Doctor Scarlet. Across the circle Jellal stayed put, hardly glancing up at all. His silent posture made me feel a bit "on edge."

"You know what, Doctor Scarlet?" Levy interrupted with a nervous tone, catching the attention of everyone but Natsu. Oddly enough, his eyes seemed glued on me, but maybe he was still entranced by the crazed doctor. "I just remembered—Mira was looking for you," she continued. "There's some documents she has for you to sign."

"Oh? Wonderful! That'll give me something to do for the time being." Doctor Scarlet placed the needle away and stood. "You're all dismissed until further notice." On that note, she left the room and we all sighed in relief.

"Well, you heard her." Levy glanced around cheerfully at the group while it reassembled itself. "Feel free to head back to your rooms, or you can visit the rec room."

The patients nodded and filtered out in a surprisingly calm fashion. Soon the two of us were alone in the room. Awkward silence prevailed before Doctor McGarden turned to me with a pained expression. "I…I…," she stuttered, searching for thoughts to say. "I'm sorry for all of that. However, you may be surprised if I tell you that this session was _far_ from atypical." She let out a strained chuckle. "Nearly every session runs with tensions as high as today. I…I understand if you don't want to come back." She cautiously glanced over to me with a look of concern in her eyes.

Before I have a chance to reply, my eyes travelled past Doctor McGarden and through the closed door of the room. (It contained a window.) Peeking from the bottom edge, I noticed pink tuffs of hair followed by wide puppy-dog eyes. Expectedly enough, the small cat toy was staring into the room as well. I smiled, unable to contain the sudden warm feeling in my chest. These patients—no—these people. They need me. There's no way I could possibly turn by back on them simply because they can get a little rowdy.

"I would love to come back!" I interjected enthusiastically. "Doctor Scarlet left me feeling a bit uneasy, but I'd be honored to come back and work with you again." I replied with a grin.

A muffled "yippie!" sounded from beyond the door along with padded, waning footsteps.

"Really?! Oh, wonderful!" she exclaimed in wonder, unaware of the little eaves-dropper making his escape. We stood together. "I look forward to working with you in the future then!" Levy added with a smile.

"And by future, you mean…?" I inquired.

"Whenever you're available to come back!"

"In that case, how about tomorrow?" I grinned, literally unable to wait until I could return.


	2. To Dream the Bushed Eggs on Fire

**Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't say anything in the last chapter, I was so excited about uploading I forgot to say a few things. **

**Like, I do not own Fairy Tail in anyway and I'd like to thank my editor, Sky-chan for helping me with making this story come to life! Enjoy!**

Chapter 2

Natsu

_ "NATSU! We've made it to Hargeon!" Happy's high pitched voiced squeaked in my ears. "Come on get up already!"_

_"Is he all right?" the man asked._

_"He's fine! This always happens when he travels!" Happy replied as a small explanation. _

_"Never… I'm never riding a stupid train again," I muttered feeling my lunch creep up into my throat. Happy wandered over the exit and stared out into the crowds. I crawled off the floor and leaned out of the window, ready to puke if I had too. _

_"If our information is correct, then we should find that salamander in this town." He turned to me with a smile, "Let's go!"_

_"Just give me a minute would ya…," I groaned feeling sick again. Happy stepped out onto the station platform and glanced around at all the people. Before I had a chance to move to join him on the beloved solid ground, the train's engine started up and instantly sped down the tracks. I cried out to Happy for help as he (or rather I) drifted off into the distance. He just stood there as a loud buzzer rang out in a rhythmic tune. _

I flew my arm to the alarm clock and smacked the snooze button. Turning onto my stomach, I stared at the clock. '7:45 am', what a ghastly time to wake up. Dragon's shouldn't need to be awake until at least ten. I reached over and turned off the alarm. I pushed myself into a sitting position and glanced around the room for Happy.

"I'm down here…," a muffled voice broke through the silence. I peered over the bed and spotted the cat on the floor, face down.

"What are you doing down there?" I yawned, reaching down to pick him up. I placed him on the bed and he gave me an angry expression.  
>"What do you think I was doing? You pushed me off the bed!" Happy grumbled, crossing his arms. "You move around way too much in your sleep."<p>

"Eheh… Sorry, buddy," I apologized with a chuckle.

"What were you dreaming about anyway?" Happy grumbled.

"I don't… really remember." I stared down at the sheets, trying to recall. If I couldn't remember, it mustn't have been that important. I glanced out the window above my nightstand, and gazed upon the ominous forest in the back of the hospital. I always wondered what it was like out there, but I haven't ever gotten close enough to see. That's when it suddenly came to me. I leapt off the bed and practically sat on my nightstand with my feet dangling off the edge as I pressed my face against the window.

"Natsu, what are you doing?" Happy asked from the bed.

"Yesterday morning, I saw… or was it the day before? Or a few days ago…? Anyway, I saw a glimpse of something moving really fast near the forest! I'm thinking that I might see it again!" I smirked.

"Really? What do you think it was?" Happy inquired with enthusiasm.

"I'm not sure, but it sure was fast!" I chimed scanning the area below the window and farther out, wishing to catch another glimpse of the mysterious creature. I waited for quite a while and was about to give up when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Turning my head, I spotted it! The creature dashed across the lawn.

"There it is!" I exclaimed pointing at the animal. The creature had a large oval body and skinny tree branches for legs. A dead bush with no leaves seemed stuck to its head. The strange being cantered towards the forest but stopped briefly before the tree line. I was finally able to get a good look at the animal. The image of the creature finally became clear, and with the realization of what it actually was, I frowned. Crossing my arms, I huffed in annoyance.

"Are you kidding me?! I waited… for how long? For a stupid…stupid…" I stopped myself and looked down in thought. What was it called? I looked back out the window, and stared at the…whatever it was, trying to think of its given name. The letters jumbled around in my head, but I couldn't focus on the actual name. I could feel it on the tip of my tongue. At the edge of my brain, the word threatened to jump off into oblivion. I had seen these types of creatures before. What were they called?!

"Happy!" I shot a glance to the little blue cat. "What are those things called?!" I demanded. "They're bigish, brown…bushes on their head?" I moved my arms about, making gestures with my hands in attempts to describe the creature.

"What are you talking about?" Happy questioned tilting his head. I snatched him from the bed and slammed his face against the window pane.

"That…thing!" I proclaimed pointing, out the window. Happy grumbled incoherently as he waved his arms up and down. I pulled him back from the window and gave him a curious look.

"So? What do you think it is?" I asked, setting him down next to me.

"I dunno," he replied while rubbing his nose. "Maybe it's a 'Moving Bush'?"

"Nah, that can't be it. It's much simpler than that." I mumbled in annoyance. "GAH! Why can't I remember?!" I shouted, grabbing my head in frustration. A knock on the door disrupted my thoughts and actions. I glanced back as it opened, and Dr. McGarden poked her head in.

"Morning Natsu!" She stepped into the room, "What are you doing up there?" She questioned with a smile. I turned back towards the window and frowned.

"I saw something outside," I replied while tilting my head.

"Oh? What was it?" Dr. McGarden strolled over to the window and gazed out.

"I don't remember," I stated in defeat as I scratched my head.

"Oh, that's okay. Anyways, it's time for your morning medication and breakfast! Why don't you get dressed, and I'll meet you in the hall so we can walk there together." She wandered back towards the door.

"Aye!" I grinned as she closed the door. I glanced down at Happy with excitement. "I wonder what they'll have for food today." I hopped off the nightstand and bounded over to the dresser to change.  
>"Probably the same thing as yesterday," Happy mused. "I still can't believe you devoured all of those gross watery scrambled eggs."<p>

"I was hungry! Sure they tasted awful, but it was still food." I snatched a black pullover from the drawer along with some dark grey sweats. To top it off, I wrapped my white scarf around my neck.

"If you can call it that…" Happy replied, "I hope they don't have it again."

"Is this stuff even…real?" I grumbled, poking at the scrambled eggs with my fork. The eggs hardly broke even as I stabbed it with my eating utensil.

"I told you they'd bring it back," Happy muttered from my lap as he watched me stab the food until it stuck to my fork.

"Just shut up and eat the food," a gruff voice from the other side of the table growled. I glanced up and glared at the speaker: Gray.

"How can you eat this stuff?" I remarked forcefully pointing my fork at the shirtless man. The piece of egg flew off the fork and landed in the plate next to him. The woman sitting by his side shot a death glare in my direction.

"Don't throw your food at me or my darling Gray!" Juvia chafed, flicking the food off of her plate. I noticed a piece of clothing bundled up on her lap—most likely Gray's lost shirt.

"I wasn't throwing it at either of you! Even if I was, I would have aimed at Gray's polar bear chest," I muttered while turning back to my food. "I don't think I can eat this crap," I grumbled.

"Quit complaining. You've been here for how long? And you're just now starting to whine about the quality of the food?" Gray questioned, taking a bite of bacon that stretched like rubber.

"It wasn't always like….like this!" I gestured to the plate of food that wouldn't even suit a sewer rat. Gray sighed and continued eating the inedible food. I glanced around the room and noticed that everyone else was eating the horrible mess of food with no complaint. With their robotic expressions, I questioned if the government had planted mind control chips in their brains.

"Oh, Juvia heard that today we'll be having arts and crafts!" The blue haired woman smirked, "Maybe Gray dear will let Juvia draw him?" she questioned as she linked her arms with his and leaned against his side.

"How about—no," Gray replied ignoring her puppy dog eyes. He grabbed his plate and stood. Juvia lost her grip on his arm and collapsed onto his chair. She hastily sat up and fixed her hair. She glanced up at his bare chest with a seductive smirk.

"Oh, come on, Gray! We could have our own _private session,_" Juvia suggested in a creepy tone. Gray ignored her proposal and walked way, leaving his pants behind. The woman swiftly snatched them up and held them along with the lost shirt. I glanced warily at Juvia, and scooted down a few seats away from her and her weird tendencies.

After breakfast, Happy and I meandered down to the rec room where the fun activity was going to take place. I hoped that Juvia wasn't lying about arts and crafts. Entering the room, I scanned around with curiosity. A table was step up with a few chairs around it. Paper, crayons, and colored pencils decorated the tabletop. I grinned and noticed Lucy standing by Dr. McGarden. Immediately, my tummy fluttered as my smile grew with excitement. She was back! The others soon arrived and Gray hadn't put any clothes back on. I rolled my eyes. Happy snickered.

"Alright, everyone. Today we'll be doing an arts and crafts exercise," Dr. McGarden announced, consciously ignoring Gray's offensive nudity. "Feel free to draw whatever you'd like." She turned to Lucy and whispered something. I couldn't quite make it out, because Gray was making too much noise. I placed Happy on the table and snatched a sheet of paper. I stared at it, wondering what to draw. I asked Happy for some advice, but he kept babbling about fish and all the different kinds. I wasn't in the mood to draw fish.

Sighing, I reached for a box of crayons and dumped them out of the box. I watched them bounce and roll around the table. (Flying fish!) A few of the colors rolled to the end of the table where_ he_ sat. Jellal, with his blue hair and facial marking, glared up from his paper to the crayons and then at me. He needn't say a word. Cautiously, I reached over and pulled the pastels from his area. While doing so, I tried not to make eye contact.

"Keep your mess to yourself," Gray grumbled, pushing some of the crayons back in my direction with his hand. I stuck my tongue out at him and picked out a few crayons: a red, orange, and yellow. The colors of the main element! I tried to focus on my coloring, but Gray and Juvia were making too much noise. Grumbling, I pulled my arms around the paper so that I could focus and no one would peek at my drawing. It was going to be perfect! Something that Dad would appreciate.

"What are you drawing?"

I looked up. Lucy was sitting next to me. NEXT to me. No one ever sat next to me. I shot glances between my drawing and her smiling face. I pulled my arms closer to the paper, almost covering it.

"…. Fire…" I muttered quietly.

"Really? Can I see?" Lucy questioned with genuine interest. I slowly moved my arms away from the paper and then quickly covered it again.

"There. Did you see it?"

"Umm…sort of," Lucy furrowed her brow. "Can I see it again?"

"Not until it's done. It needs to be perfect!" I emphasized with a long, hard streak of red on my paper.

"Okay, well, you let me know when you're done then and I'll come back." Lucy stood to her feet and walked over to Gray. She placed her hand on his shoulder and glanced down at what he was making. Juvia burned with jealousy, and my tummy felt funny. Must be from the eggs this morning. He smiled and held up a snowflake that he had folded out of construction paper. To me, it looked like his hair.

"That's very nice," she commented brightly.

I removed my arms and gazed at my drawing. Red, orange, and yellow swirled in random circles. The colors mixed, covering each other and blending together. I could feel the colorful flames start to burn through the paper. I stared in awe as the fire crackled and sparked as it rose into the air like a magical phoenix. It was like my own little inferno of blazing colors.

"It's so pretty," I murmured placing my hand over the flames. I couldn't feel any pain. My hand didn't burn. If I couldn't feel any pain…. I took a quick glance around the table and crumbled up the fiery paper. Maybe it's edible! Does fire taste good?! Without a second thought, I opened my mouth, bringing the flames close to my face.

"Nastu!"

I froze in place, tongue extended, reaching toward the paper. I glanced toward the person who shouted my name, which turned out to be Dr. McGarden. "Waaah?" I questioned with my tongue hovering centimeters from the fire.

"What are you doing?"

Everyone paused what they were doing to stare at me. I felt uncomfortable with all the eyes on me. The eyes, like a forest filled with animals, glowed with mystery. They glowed…like fire. I slithered my tongue back into my mouth and gazed at the colorful, wadded piece of paper, immediately forgetting the forest animals around me. "It's fire," I stated in wonder.

"Yes? And…? What about the fire?" Dr. McGarden questioned.

"Fire is one of the elements! It must taste amazing!" At that, I shoved the piece of paper into my mouth. It felt hard and poky against my cheeks at first. Suddenly it started to soften. Is it melting? Like lava?!

"Nasu!" Dr. McGarden chided. "Spit that out right now!"

For a moment I was captured in the questionable taste of fire that her loud expression caught me off guard. I sucked in a breath, making the fire expand in my throat.

I couldn't breathe.

Immediately, I started choking—violently. Levy ran to me, but I hardly noticed. All I could feel was the fire bubbling in my throat. Heat surged in my chest and swarmed into my face. Birds, no butterflies, flew from my belly into my chest and up into my throat. Stay away! You'll get burned!

"It's the scarf!" Gray screamed, standing to his feet. He knocked several things to the floor, including his chair. "It's eating Natsu!"

"Gray, no!" Dr. McGarden commanded, but he didn't listen. (He must want to taste the fire, too.) As a result, Gray began yanking on my scarf. But my scarf wasn't on fire. Breathing became harder.

"Natsu!" Happy yelled from the floor. (Did he fall again?) "You're a dragon! Breathe the fire out!"

I'm…a dragon? _Salamander._ That's right! I'm a dragon! _Fire dragon roar!_

In response, I coughed up the wad of fire. The orangish, reddish ball of slime landed in a pair of hands before me. Why didn't they burn? I coughed up a few stray pieces before looking up into the eyes that belonged to the hands. They sparkled…like stars. Second element? How could this be? I was transfixed.

"Are you all right?" Lucy asked. Her expression was crunched together as she stared at the wadded paper in her hands.

"Do you have magic powers?" I whispered gazing into her eyes (star struck?).

She shot me a quizzical look but was soon distracted by Dr. McGarden shouting: "Juvia! Give Gray his underwear back!"


End file.
